At the same time, Pavel was surprised when he saw Karina.
"I can feel a faint dragon's energy coming from this woman?"
In unusual situations, he habitually examined Karina's condition through the 'Eye of Truth'. The 'Eye of Truth' was the ability to see through the essence of things that Pavel had acquired through some kind of contract. Through that ability, Pavel was able to more accurately determine Karina's condition. Originally, a healthy soul would shine brightly and radiate life, but Karina's soul was not like that. Instead, it was cracked here and there as if it were pieces of broken glass that had been put together.
"Her soul is very unstable. It feels like it was completely broken before."
And those soul fragments were barely able to maintain their shape, wrapped like vines in thin, black threads.
"What is this?"
The dragon's aura was not coming from her soul, but from something black that was wrapped around her soul. He used his magic to gently touch it. The black threads reacted to the stimulation and glowed whitish. Immediately afterward, he tightened his grip on her soul as if he were taking a defensive stance. Suddenly, he remembered that he had seen a soul like this before.
"Huh? This woman is the same woman from back then."
"Do you know Karina?"
Mikhail, who had followed Pavel out of the room to try to shoo him out, stopped short at his muttering.
"I saw her at the Imperial Palace banquet during the New Year's celebration last year."
"Yes?"
That day was the day Mikhail was taken to the tower. Mikhail was curious why his teacher, who paid little attention to his surroundings, remembered Karina.
"How do you remember?"
"I found her a bit interesting at the time, so I looked at her closely."
"Isn't that strange?"
"Why did I do that back then? It was already broken, so it was amazing that it was put back together. It obviously wasn't functioning properly, but it was interesting that it was still running around."
Mikhail, who had been listening to everything Pavel said, was startled and asked again.
"What do you mean it's already broken?"
"Alas, even though you have eyes, you can't see properly. What use is this pitiful guy?"
Pavel clicked his tongue as he glanced at his beloved disciple.
"Stop talking nonsense and speak so I can understand."
At Mikhail's request, Pavel finally began to explain in an easy-to-understand way.
"There are cracks all over her soul, like broken pottery that has been put back together. Something is forcibly holding her already fragmented soul together."
"..."
"This is the first time I've seen something like this, but I think it's related to the dragon, as it's capturing the soul, but I'm not sure exactly."
Pavel continued to speak, but Mikhail could not hear him. If he were looking through the eyes of truth, his words would be almost right.
"So, is Karina's condition dangerous right now?"
Mikhail's expression became serious.
"Well, it doesn't seem dangerous right now, but as time goes by, the dragon's power will weaken, and eventually it will be unable to hold onto the fragmented soul."
Pavel spoke softly, but it was no different from saying that if they left it like this, Karina would die. Mikhail's face darkened in an instant as he was greatly shocked. Pavel, who had been struggling for a moment as if he was searching for some knowledge that could help him in this situation, finally remembered something and continued speaking.
"I don't know if this is the same situation as this woman, but I once read in an old book that someone made a contract with a dragon and borrowed its power. I think I read at the time that there were separate conditions for maintaining the contract with the dragon..."
He scratched his chin with a troubled expression.
"But it was so long ago that I read it that I don't remember it exactly."
"Are you saying that Karina just made a contract with a dragon?"
"I'm saying this because, looking at the current situation, it seems like there's no other way to explain this situation."
Mikhail recalled the familiar aura he had felt when he first saw Karina. It was the aura of the dragon he had been looking for. He had felt it too, and had asked her about it.
'Aren't there any such stories around Your Highness? Stories related to dragons.'
To find out if she had something to do with dragons. But.
'There's no such thing.'
Karina responded that she had no idea.
'Dragons are fantastical creatures that only appear in national foundation myths!'
Didn't they even look at him strangely, asking if he believed in the existence of dragons? Mikhail was a little confused. However, he couldn't just sit still like this... He had to find a way, even if it was just a straw.
"Where did you read that? Please find that book. I need it urgently. Right now!"
"It's probably one of the dragon-related books I've collected in the archives. If I look through it, I'll probably find something."
As he said that, Pavel carried his luggage on his back and headed to the archives on the top floor. Mikhail followed him. Of course, Max, who was standing blankly behind the two, was with them.
"Huh? Why am I...?"
Max was dragged away by Mikhail with a question mark floating above his head.
"Why? Of course, you should help too."
Max nodded without saying a word at the calm yet encouraging aura he felt from Mikhail.
"Oh, yes."
Three days passed like that.
***
Mikhail took good care of Karina, who was lying in his bed. She was lying there with a pretty face as if she was just sleeping normally.
"Karina."
But no matter how much Mikhail called, she did not wake up.
"Phew."
He sighed deeply and held her hand for a long time.
"Why don't you wake up?"
Mikhail missed Karina's beautiful blue-green eyes so much. He wanted to see her bright smile smiling at him. He carefully placed Karina's hand, which he was holding, under the blanket and left the room with a determined expression.
"You still haven't found it?"
Mikhail urged Pavel as he entered the archives.
"Just wait, I'm looking for it."
Pavel turned the pages of the book with a tired face. Max also had a dull face and was taking out a bunch of dusty ancient books from the bookshelf behind the desk. They were going through the old books one by one in the archive room on the top floor of the tower.
"It's already been three days since Karina woke up."
Mikhail stamped his feet.
"If something goes wrong like that..."
"Oh, it's noisy! If you're in such a hurry, why don't you look for it yourself?"
"I have to take care of Karina. And you are better at interpreting ancient languages, Master."
"Hey! You useless bastard! Stop being so crazy and go over there and dust off your books!"
Pavel shouted, letting out his pent-up frustration. He and Max had been searching for information related to the Dragon Contract to help Karina come to her senses amidst Mikhail's bullying for three days.
"Found it!"
Pavel, who was mechanically turning the pages of a book, suddenly exclaimed with a joyful expression.
"...!"
Mikhail ran straight over.
"What does it say?"
"Let's see..."
Pavel pushed up his glasses and read the contents carefully.
"After making a contract to borrow the power of a dragon, a continuous supply of power is required to maintain and fulfill the contract. The contract holder must have a related medium that allows the power of the contracted dragon to be continuously transmitted. The medium that can be used is the dragon's blood or tears, or by being granted a blessing that is part of the power..."
Mikhail, unable to bear the long and complicated story, asked urgently.
"So what's the bottom line? What should I do?"
"According to what I found... after making a contract with a dragon, there must be a special medium to continue receiving the dragon's power to maintain the contract."
"A medium?"
"Yes. The medium seems to be something related to dragons, and it is said that it should be kept close at all times."
"..."
"And 'the contractor must be in a place blessed by the dragon'. That means, in a case like this, she must not leave the Empire's territory."
The empire was founded by a founder who was blessed by a dragon at the beginning of its founding, and it was said that his descendants inherited the blood of the dragon.
"That child may not have woken up for three days because she left the empire. She may have fallen asleep to use only the minimum amount of power to hold onto her soul."
Mikhail chewed his lower lip after hearing Pavel's plausible guess. When Karina was at the Grand Duke's mansion, she had only some muscle pain, but she was mentally sound. There was no diagnosis of any major physical abnormalities.
"You must live in a place blessed by the dragon, with a medium containing the dragon's power nearby..."
Mikhail's expression distorted as he muttered. He didn't like the fact that his plan to spend time alone with Karina in the Tower had been ruined. But what did the location matter?
As long as he could be with Karina, it didn't matter where it was. After finding the medium, he just had to take Karina and settle down somewhere quiet and uninhabited. Of course, it was annoying that it had to be the Empire, but it didn't really matter to him.
"First of all, we need to find the medium..."
Mikhail's confident expression quickly turned ambiguous.
'Was there something that Karina always carried on her person?'
Nothing in particular came to mind.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Pavel, who had discovered something more in the book, was about to open his mouth.
Boom!!
A loud explosion was heard from downstairs, and a vibration was felt.
"What... what is it?"
A surprised Pavel immediately crumpled his face and shouted.
"What kind of guy is causing such a fuss by conducting some strange research!"
"..."
Mikhail remained silent, lost in his own thoughts as if it wasn't worth worrying about. Max, who had been holding onto the pile of old books on the desk to keep them from falling, stepped forward as soon as the vibration stopped.
"I'll go and find out what's going on."
"Bring all the guys who caused the accident."
"Yes."
Max, who went down to the first floor while answering steadily, was surprised. The wizards with pale faces were lying on the ground. Their eyes were focused on one place. Max also looked in the direction they were looking. Then he saw a man with a fierce aura standing in front of the first-floor door with a sword in one hand. It was already cut by the sword the man had swung, so it could no longer function as a door. Max looked up to check the man's face and was surprised once again.
"Uh?"
Max raised his hands and rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had seen something wrong, and opened them again. But the man's face was the same as when he first saw it.
It was Jeremiah. A low, creepy voice came out of his teeth, his face as cold as ice.
"I came to pick up my wife."
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment